I strongly suspect that 5 years from now, we're going to be seeing a huge crop of for-profit technical schools popping up all over the country - schools that focus exclusively on Science, Math and Engineering, with much lower tuition and relationships with companies that recruit High Tech graduates. Lab experience will be a HUGE part of such schools, I'd bet.We'll also see vocational schools make a huge comeback.Liberal Arts colleges will get SLAUGHTERED in the new educational environment, and even universities with a wide range of disciplines will be forced to violently redirect their curricula and cut costs.Don't get me wrong - I don't want non-science disciplines to disappear. I just suspect that the marketplace will force higher education to cut tuition costs drastically and refocus on degree tracks that are of value in finding a decent job.

The number of kids who want to go there and are qualified are decreasing, and the number of kids who are "other" applicants, like approved minority groups and disabled, are fought over and are in short supply.

If Dartmouth moves any further left they're gonna have to start digging mass graves at the edge of campus. I don't see any reason why any organization outside of government would hire the little marxbots that place churns out.

Proof that Dartmouth and other "elite" schools are deliberately restricting how many students they admit, which in turn limits the number of graduates.

They do this so that they can sell their credentials as a prestige product, something rare and difficult to obtain, proof that the owner is superior to others. This is the same game that brands like Prada or Louis Vuitton play. Prada and Louis do this by jacking up the price. Dartmouth does it by restricting supply. Same difference in the end.

Now you might argue that Dartmouth is a small school. Well the number of available spots at Harvard each year is maybe 1,500. The other Ivies are much the same.

I have a hard time believing that the number of elite scholars coming out high school is so small that there is room enough for all of them at these schools.

Seems more like a game of musical chairs to me, with many equally qualified applicants being turned away simply because the number of spots is artificially constrained.

You have nailed it perfectly. Their 'proof' of the rarefied value of their product is how difficult it is to gain access to it. My old Seven Sisters school played this game effectively until their applications cratered; now they still describe themselves as 'selective,' but in practice will take just about anyone who offers to pay full freight, particularly foreigners.

I strongly suspect that 5 years from now, we're going to be seeing a huge crop of for-profit technical schools popping up all over the country - schools that focus exclusively on Science, Math and Engineering, with much lower tuition and relationships with companies that recruit High Tech graduates. Lab experience will be a HUGE part of such schools, I'd bet.We'll also see vocational schools make a huge comeback.Liberal Arts colleges will get SLAUGHTERED in the new educational environment, and even universities with a wide range of disciplines will be forced to violently redirect their curricula and cut costs.Don't get me wrong - I don't want non-science disciplines to disappear. I just suspect that the marketplace will force higher education to cut tuition costs drastically and refocus on degree tracks that are of value in finding a decent job.

You are absolutely right. I have 2 relatives living in Denver who work for a company that runs technical (and other) schools. The outfit is growing like a weed. They moved a lot of it over from California, and now they are adapting to the much different culture in Colorado. There is growth potential for schools that prepare students for real jobs and help them find work after graduation.

Could happen - with no difference in location, as imploding liberal-arts schools sell off their STEM brick-&-mortar to tech schools. Makes sense, as the business models and value propositions for students are quite different.

Vo-tech is essential in keeping things going. The barrista with a Masters in Medieval Feminist Studies isn't going to do a darn thing to keep the lights on or water flowing through the pipes, no matter how many of them get churned out by Dartmouth.

The focus has to change - and I think we're starting to see the shift.

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